UNP women candidates confident of PC polls victory

By Jaliya Wijeyekoon

Provincial Council Elections of 2014 is scheduled to be held on March 29 to elect members to Western and Southern Provincial Councils. All major political parties have accelerated their respective political campaigns to woo the support of the public and emerge victorious. There is a number of female candidates contesting the 2014 PC elections from all major political parties and some of them are supremely confident of their victories.

Diana Gamage Colombo District

Rose Fernando Gampaha District

Chandralatha Fernando Kalutara District

Nadeesha Hemamali Matara District

The Sunday Observer had a brief interview with some of the prominent female candidates of the UNP in Colombo, Gampaha, Matara and Kalutara districts and the excerpts are given below.

Q: You are born with a Silver spoon in your mouth and had a good education and ended up as a professional in Accounts and Law What made you take to politics and also under the United National Party?

A: I was interested in social service from my childhood and when I went to England to pursue my higher studies I was actively engaged in various activities which benefited the less fortunate sections of the society.

We had different societies in my law school and the Metropolitan University College and I was very much interested in the numerous social service activities that we carried out over there in England.

So when I returned to the island I thought that I should do something to my countrymen with the experience I gathered over there. As the first step to social service I formed the United Womens Front which is now in full swing with its multi-faceted activities. In order to provide a better service to the needy I realised that political power too is essential and that is how I was dragged in to politics.

The second part of your question as to why I chose the UNP. I would say that as a person who has read the political history of this country and its leaders, I was impressed with the performance of leaders such as D.S. Senanayake, Dudley Senananyake J.R. Jayewardene and Ranasinghe Premadase.

I have observed the incumbent leader Ranil Wickremasinghe as the most suitable person to run this country with his ocean of knowledge, political vision and maturity to lead it to prosperity in the near future. When I expressed my desire to contest, he readily accepted me and I am now fully committed to the party's victory appreciating its policies and principles.

Q: How is your election campaign? Did you encounter any negative experience during the past few weeks.

A: Well, I am fully engaged in the campaign from the time we filed nominations. I am basically concentrating my election campaign on the large number of shanties scattered all over the Colombo district including Colombo 7. I listen to their grievances and assure them of my planned program of work for the future to bring relief to their innumerable problems. And also we have launched a separate campaign to educate the shanty-dwellers as to why they should vote for the UNP at the forthcoming PC elections.

Your next question is whether I had any negative experience in the field. No, not at all. We conduct a very peaceful campaign without personally antagonising anybody according to the instructions given to us by the party hierarchy. We are based on principled politics. We only try to educate the voters as to why they should bring back the UNP into power. I am pretty sure that the people have silently decided to vote for UNP as they have now realised that the present rulers are unable to address their burning issues.

We have been going around all neglected areas of the city and it is quite evident that some city dwellers are undergoing untold hardships with regard to their basic needs such as proper shelter, hieginic facilities and infrastructure requirements. People are rallying around us irrespective of party differences this time with the firm intention of seeing a regime change at the Western Provincial Council which will invariably lead to the victory of the UNP at the next general election.

Q: How can you say that when the government is going ahead with mega development projects?

A: What the people need most is not mega development projects. But a bearable cost of living along with basic requirements such as health facilities, education for children, employment for youth, law and order and the justice and fair play for all citizens. The present set up has not been able to provide these to the public making their lives more and more miserable.

With this backdrop it is not difficult for us to mobilise the masses, presenting an alternative concrete program of work and win the elections on March 29.

Q: You are contesting the Provincial Council elections for the second consecutive term. Do you think that you had lived upto the expectations of the people in Western Provincial Council as an Opposition member during the last term?

A: Yes, I think that I had adequately represented the grievances of the public at the council in my capacity as an Opposition member. With the limited resources available for the opposition members we could not do much work in respect of development activities and welfare measures. But I had made my contribution on policy matters and planning and implementation of different programs which were beneficial to the general public. At the same time I objected to a number of unrealistic projects and plans that the council was trying to implement.

Q: Some political critiques say that Provincial Councils are a white elephant and the system should be abolished. Your views please?

A: The Provincial Council system was introduced to the country to devolve power to the periphery as a solution to the long-drawn North East problem during President J.R. Jayawardene's regime in 1987. But the desired results were not achieved by the then merged North-East Provincial Council and it was dissolved immediately. However, the PC system was deeply rooted in the political fabric of the country and every 5 years PC elections are held in provinces.

In my personal view it is not correct to condemn the system as a White Elephant. A council can do a great service to the people in the province if it works cordially with the central government sans corruption and mismanagement.

Q: But during the last number of elections your party has suffered badly and people say that there is no unity in your party and hence you can't win any election

A: Yes, we had some minor problems in our party and everything has been sorted out now and everybody is working hard to put the party back in power. Certain differences of opinion are quite natural in any political party when in the Opposition.

The Government is shaken with our steady progress and they are the people who spread this rumours to sling mud at us. Social, economic and political situation in the country has been rapidly changing during the last few months and people are anxiously waiting to see a progress in the UNP now. So in this backdrop we are quite certain that on March 29 people will exercise their franchise to make a significant change in the political strata of the country.

Q: You are an award-winning actress who brought honour and fame to the country through your chosen profession, and you have a long way to proceed on same. What made you to take to politics which is considered to be a very cumbersome process to achieve the desired results?

A: I have been very much interested in social service from my childhood in addition to my acting and other engagements.

I have already achieved quite a lot as an actress and I felt that the time has come for me to actively engage in politics to effectively serve the needy people in my country.

Even during the last few years I had been serving the needy people with my personal funds.

Q: What is the reason for you to choose the United National Party to do politics when the country is governed by UPFA for the last number of years?

A: There is a number of reasons for me to join the UNP. My parents, even grand parents and most of my relatives and friends are strong supporters of the United National Party for a long time and I remember how they worked for the party during those by-gone days. I also have read the life stories of national leaders in the country and I was very much impressed with the performance of our great UNP leaders. So naturally I had been developing a liking to involve in active politics under my beloved party one day.

A few weeks before the provincial councils were dissolved my party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe invited me to join the party as he knew that I am from a long-standing UNP family. I readily accepted the invitation as it was my firm desire and I shall devote my full-time to serve the people.

Q: You mean to say that you are going to give up your other career which earns a fortune for you?

A: No, No. I am very good in time management. I shall program my day's work in such a way that I continue to do acting too while being an active politician. However, I will be compelled to impose limitations on my acting career which I have decided already.

Q: You had been involved in your political campaign during the last few weeks. How was the response from the public in Matara district?

A: The response I received from the public is very encouraging. I am involved in house to house canvassing and educate the voters as to why they should vote for the UNP at the election. Some people who were UPFA supporters at previous elections rally round us in large numbers as their aspirations were not met.

When you visit the remote corners of Matara district you see the difficulties people encounter in their daily life. Matara is basically an agricultural district where there is a substantial peasant population and they are riddled with numerous problems with regard to proper housing, health, education and transport. Fisher community in the district is yet another segment of the society who suffer due to the lack of attention to their needs. I have already drawn out a plan to address these grievances under a UNP regime in the Southern Provincial Council.

Q: Are you confident of victory on March 29?

A: I am one hundred percent confident of our victory on the 29 March.

Q: What is your main political “Theme” to woo the support for the party?

A: Vote for the United National Party which has a clear vision to address the burning issues of the day and provide relief to the masses while maintaining good relations with the International Community and guide the country to peace and prosperity.

Q: You are the only female candidate contesting the PC elections from Kalutara district for the Western Provincial Council under the green banner. What made you to come forward as a PC candidate for the Western Province?

A: Well, I had been in politics since 2011 as a member of Panadura Pradeshiya Sabah and worked for the people and the party to my fullest potential. I was never interested to come forward as a PC candidate. But the UNP political stalwarts of my district and a large number of our party supporters in the district requested me to contest the forthcoming PC elections and my party leader and the nomination board readily accepted me and wanted me to contest. I have never failed in my attempts as I do everything according to my conscience and for the greater good of the public.

Q: Unlike the Pradeshiya Sabah election, the PC election is considered to be a tough to emerge victorious since it involves the entire district. How do you plan to conduct your campaign?

A: Yes, I am fully aware of the situation. With my personal connections with our party supporters all over the district and with the current economic situation in the country, I am sure it is not difficult for a genuine politician to muster the support of people and win this election. I had been canvassing from house to house in a large number of villages in the Kalutara district and people are anxiously supporting us to make a change in the PC administration in Western Province.

Q: Your party is divided into two groups such as Ranil's group and Sajith's group, to which group do you belong?

A: I do not belong to any group. I belong to the United National Party. The UPFA is engaged in a campaign to say that our party is divided as they now have realised that the downfall of their party has started and they will definitely lose the PC elections.

Q: But the ruling party is very confident of their victory on March 29 and say that UNP's vote base will be further reduced?

A: That is what they say but, the stark reality is that the government popularity has diminished to a great extent and they will be swept out of power on March 29 at WPC elections.

Q: On what grounds you make this statement?

A: Don't you realise the high cost of living today? People are finding it difficult to meet their ends. There is a lot of problems in all vital sections which affect the lives of ordinary masses. Specially healthcare, education, and even social and cultural sectors are riddled with problems. In this backdrop UNP could regain its lost prestige.